Quotes
07.12.18
“Winning the last home game of the year was the main target”
HSV claimed an important win against SC Paderborn in the last home game of the year before celebrating fittingly with their fans. Players and coaches have their say on the 1-0 victory.
As the final whistle sounded in the Volksparkstadion and the players began to celebrate their home win with their fans in the pre-Christmas spirit, the tension in the stadium fell away. Both the supporters, who had loudly cheered on their team right through to added time, as well as the players, who had held on to win all three points, were able to relax a little. All parties agreed that the scoreline should never have been so close, as Die Rothosen completely dominated the first half of the game. However, Paderborn fought to take advantage of a number of wasted counter-attacking opportunities by HSV and tested their marginal advantage right up until the final whistle. Despite a strong performance by their newly-promoted opponents, it was HSV who were celebrating three scrappy but well-earned points at the end of the game.
Aaron Hunt: "We played really well at the start and could have taken the lead earlier. We lost our way a little after our goal, which meant the scoreline remained tight for a long time. It’s a bit of an issue that we keep making these games tenser than they need to be, but we completely deserved the win today. Now we want to win the last two games of the year."
Rick van Drongelen: "We generally defended well and got back to keeping a clean sheet, which is a positive. But we had to finish the game off sooner, it could have been 3-0 or 4-0 midway through the second half. As it was, the end of the game was really tough for us. But our performance was ok and the win was deserved, which means a lot to us. To give the fans a send-off like that in the last home game was our main target. However the hard work continues because next week brings another important game in Duisburg. Onwards!"
David Bates: "We should have finished the game off game sooner but unfortunately we wasted our chances. It was important that we got a clean sheet, that’s always a nice thing for us defenders. Paderborn had a really good chance at the end and we’ve got to work on that. In the last few minutes our opponents threw everything at us, but we managed to hold firm."
Fiete Arp: "After everything that’s happened here this year, this was a really positive send-off at the Volksparkstadion. We made progress, but we must continue to work hard to ensure that our success continues. I’m happy that we weren’t left to rue my missed chance, but we were able to get the win and that’s more important than me scoring."
Hannes Wolf: "We began the game very well and played with real drive and tempo. We scored a goal right in this initial period of pressure, which was really important for us. After that we defended well against a good footballing side and gave away few chances. We did then have opportunities on the break and we should have taken the lead, but we unfortunately failed to do so. Paderborn played even better in the second half, however I’d say we had the better scoring opportunities. The second goal just wouldn’t go in, though. Nonetheless, we’ve learned a lot of lessons from this game that we’ll take into the coming week."
Steffen Baumgart: "In the first half we didn’t manage to implement our plan efficiently. I feel we made far too many mistakes and this gifted opportunities to HSV. Things improved for us in the second half – we moved the ball forward more and tried to find our way through by playing good football. Because of all our chances, I’d say it was a relatively well-balanced game, but ultimately HSV were deserved winners."